What Doesn't Kill You
by Arbmaster 16
Summary: Emotion can be a powerful demon within the mind... no matter who's mind it may be. Shadow is no exception when the powers of guilt, shame and anger gradually take a hold of his life, but how far can his own mind drive him? Bonds will be tested and boundaries must be broken if things are to change.
1. Some Scars Never Heal

**Hey guys and girls! How's it going? Arby's back and I have another Chapter 1 to share with you! The idea for this story came from pretty much nowhere unlike_ 'Disconnect From Desire'_ which was basically other smaller fan fictions I had written combined into one.**

**This is a Sonic/Amnesia: Justine crossover. Just so we are clear, Amnesia: Justine is the DLC that comes with the main game Amnesia: The Dark ****Descent. Both games I would recommend however, you need a pretty good computer to run them :/ If you don't know Amnesia: Justine then I suggest you look it up, the story behind it I find both fascinating and terrifying but either way it is interesting nonetheless.**

**I'm actually surprised no one has done a crossover for these two universes yet 0.0 I guess this will be another first :3**

**I hope you all like it and if you feel anything should be improved then let me know! I appreciate the honesty just at least be constructive with it.**

**Of course Shadow and Espio are going to be in this, I mean come on... Shadpio hype! :D Do I need to warn about swearing? It's rated M so I don't know... what were you expecting? I also intend to make this as dark as I can without it being inappropriate so you have been warned!**

**If this gets good feedback then I shall continue it, the issue I may have is that Chapter 2 may take a while simply because I have a lot of coursework I need to get done between now and the holidays so yeah... Isn't college fun? -.-'**

**Anyway, I think that's all I need to say for now so without further ado... onto the chapter!**

**See you all soon!**

**Arby xx**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Sonic or Amnesia: Justine. They belong to their rightful owners.**_

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><p>"<em>Come on, wake up. You need to get going."<em>

Wheezing. The only sound he could hear. His head ached as he came round from being unconscious… but why? And how? Unable to answer either question, he turned to his right from where he was lying to see… something. A figure approaching the barred door to his cell. It was unclear at first but once close enough; his entire body froze at the horrifying sight. Chains, blood and the constant fight simply to breath. It was recognisable but not human, that much he knew. This one had no eyes and instead he stared into a black abyss where they used to be. Other additions to its unnaturally skinny frame included heavy chains that had long dug into the wrists and ankles and a large, metal ring which grasped tightly around the neck. With all of that, the other scars and open wounds all over the body seemed like nothing. It then stopped and stared for a few seconds, perhaps wishing it could see what was causing the groans in the cell before turning and walking back down the darkened corridor it had come from.

Once he was sure that 'whatever it was' that was lurking had moved away, he tried to get up. His body was weak to begin with which gave the indication that he must have been out for some time. Several attempts later and he was sat up on the edge of the very basic bed that he was on. It was literally just a mattress on a wooden frame and nothing else, not even a pillow. Studying the rest of his surroundings, he saw hay randomly on the cold, stone floor; restraints on the wall to his right and an old phonograph in the corner furthest from him with a table next to it that was holding a candle, the only source of light he could see which was all contained within simple, stone brick walls. Oddly, the candle's presence puzzled him the most. He could remember living in a house with electricity. Sleeping in a king size bed with his favourite black bed sheets keeping him warm. He couldn't remember being placed in what was clearly a dungeon nor could he remember why. A helpless sigh escaped him as he looked down at himself. His shoes were thankfully still on him as well as his gloves and inhibitor rings. However, he kept his Chaos Emerald in the top drawer of the bedside table which of course wasn't here.

"_Dammit, no way out."_ He thought before getting to his feet and checking that his quills were still attached to his head. Glancing at the door again, he now noticed some rope attached to the lock which led to the ceiling. Hanging from it was a lantern and from that, the rope led to the phonograph. He shook the door violently to see if it was open but considering that this was a prison cell, the odds were not going to be in his favour. Despite his strength, the door wouldn't budge which meant the only thing left to do was to see if the phonograph worked. Turning the handle on the side was what provided it the power to work and after a few seconds, an unknown voice began to speak.

"Life's not fair is it? One simple action can change the course of history and no amount of loyalty or heroism can reverse it. Forgiveness is a strange word and can mean different things to different minds. Your situation is just as grey as the others with no real answer except the ones you give it. Ask yourself, do you deserve forgiveness? Another chance? Or do you see yourself as a lost cause? A thousand apologies will not make up for the bond you have broken and no amount of time will heal the scars you have created. Still think you deserve some respite? Then feel free to make your way out of here but just remember that escape may be harder than you think."

Unable to gather any coherent thought, he looked around once more to find that the lantern on the ceiling had lowered and was now reachable. The hedgehog of course got it down only to find that it either didn't work or didn't have the means to work but he was soon distracted by the rope retracting up to the ceiling which in turn unlocked his cell door. He was anxious at first, knowing that some creature was still roaming but with no other options at this point all he could do now was explore the world beyond the bars.

The door screeched as Shadow slowly opened it. A feeling of exposure came over him and his fur became sensitive to the chills that would run up his spine. He left the door open in case the creature returned and he needed to hide. Deciding that there was nothing left for him to do here, he ventured further into the darkness and came across two paths: one turning right and the other leading ahead. He ventured right to begin with only to be jumped by a gust of wind that blew through the wall and some distant screams. The mammal cursed under his breath making sure that he didn't make too much noise, the last thing he needed was to attract unwanted attention.

He went back the way he came and this time walked on only to hear the sudden sound of wheezing get steadily louder. Instinct told him to back off but he couldn't resist peering back round the corner to see the creature in full. After a few moments however the struggled breaths of the being became quiet until Shadow could no longer hear them. He didn't move until he was sure that the area was clear and then came to another forked path: this time on path headed left and the other went ahead. The ultimate life form was for the moment too nervous to venture ahead so he decided that left would be the better option for now despite never admitting it. An irritated groan escaped him as he came to another dead end but this time it wasn't all in vain. Oddly, there was a piece of broken ladder just casually lying on the ground next to a wall which had caved in from a rock slide. Others would perhaps leave it thinking that it was just useless junk but Shadow saw it as a potential weapon especially when he had nothing else to defend himself with in case the creature was hostile. He picked it up with his right hand and journeyed onward, this time to a heavy, metal door which led to a room containing six more cells; each one being identical to his own. They were organised with three on the left and three on the right. A bottle on a table to his right caught his attention first. It was labelled 'Laudanum' and had a description underneath; 'A medical bracer to improve health and help heal wounds.' Shadow wondered why something like this was here but quickly shook the thought off and looked through the cell next to it. The only thing that seemed out of place was a violin which was lying on top of some sheets of music. Perhaps a prisoner here was a musician or at least enjoyed music. With nothing else of interest, the hedgehog decided to explore the rest of the room.

The next three cells wielded something new but each item was of no use to him whether it was some broken pieces of wood; a racquet next to a gruesome note from an obsessed lover or a bible. However, the fourth cell he checked wielded something which both calmed and terrified him.

"Whoever you are, if you could help me, I would be much obliged." A soft, feminine voice spoke.

"M-Maria?!" Shadow panicked.

"Help me! Please, help me!" She urged as Shadow tried desperately to open her cell door. The frail girl was tied down to a table with a bag covering her entire head. The most disturbing feature he noticed however was the sharp, red, arrowhead suspended above her torso waiting to be activated. He used anything in his power even to the point of using nearby barrels and boxes to try and smash the door apart but it was no use as the padlock was locked tight.

"The door is locked but I will get you out, I promise." Shadow reassured. He then noticed a lever on the wall next to the cell door. Thinking that it was the answer to his new problem, he pulled it downwards.

"Please! Please be reasonable! You don't have to do this!" She begged through the bars. Shadow looked around in a slight panic only to notice that Maria's certain death had lowered and was hanging closer to her helpless body.

"Oh shit…" He whispered and was swift to back away from both the cell and the lever. There was only one cell left which he hadn't checked and decided to have a look in case there was a key. Just like the others, he went in and looked around but what was different this time was a very distinct wheezing sound that came from the main room. Shadow turned in an instant and crouched by the door to see if he could finally see what he was up against. Complete horror overcame him as he saw the same creature he had witnessed before only this time the room was light enough for him to see not 'what' but 'who' it was. The tortured soul that was painfully walking past dragging the chains which clung to his ankles. The one which had lost the majority of his fur but was still recognisable by his upturned quills. The beaten and broken being his own eyes had laid upon was none other than himself. Shadow's jaw dropped at the sight, it was undoubtedly him but his mind wouldn't believe it.

"Come back…" The tortured Shadow begged but who was he talking to? "Why did this happen?"

"What the fuck?" Shadow whispered under his breath.

"Is that you I hear?" The broken hedgehog said as he suddenly turned to face Shadow's direction. The mammal had forgotten that blindness heightens the other senses; hearing being one of them. He quickly shut the cell door and crouched in the back corner. The tortured Shadow slowly approached but then stopped once he reached the door… only for a moment. Shadow quivered in complete fear as the other relentlessly began smashing down the door with his bare fists. It took four solid hits before the door was off its hinges entirely and there was no barrier between either Shadow. It turned and stared straight at Shadow as if he could see him cowering at his presence. Without warning, it charged and was about to unleash his frustration onto the vulnerable mammal until suddenly…

His eyes shot open. His body was still frozen and he found himself unable to move for a few minutes. The mammal nearly jumped however when he saw a certain bee stood next to his bed looking down at him.

"Hey you're finally awake!" He told him. "I've been trying to wake you for a little while now but you were really out of it. Must have needed it huh?" Charmy asked. Shadow looked around a little more before he answered. It was his room without a doubt; red ceiling, black walls and a king size bed with black sheets. This meant that his ordeal was only a dream.

"Uh yeah… didn't sleep well." The hedgehog told him which was half a lie. "What time is it?"

"7:15 in the morning and time for you to get up for work." Charmy was enthusiastic as always but nowadays a certain serious tone accompanied his voice. He was older, 16 to be precise and caught in the middle of a situation which no child or teen should ever have the misfortune of dealing with; separation.

"Why are you even awake this early?" Shadow asked. "There must be more of a reason than just to get me up."

"I know about you not being in work for the past 2 weeks." Charmy informed him with a serious look.

"How do you know?"

"Because G.U.N. phoned the agency hoping to get Espio when they couldn't get a hold of you, but I picked up instead and since I'm technically you're son they told me what was going on." Shadow sighed heavily for two reasons. Firstly, he really didn't want to go to work and be sociable in the slightest and second, because he felt bad for this sudden responsibility that was put on Charmy because he was too busy being depressed. "I know things have been crap lately. Believe me Espio's been the same but the last thing you need is to lose your house or your bike because you can't keep up the bills." Charmy pointed out and Shadow knew he was right.

"Yeah yeah I get it. It's just…" He paused and looked at the empty space next to him. It felt like a punch in the gut knowing that he would be sleeping alone from now on and Charmy was able to notice when Shadow held back the tears.

"You miss him." The bee said bluntly.

"I'm a fucking idiot." He said angrily as he finally got up. Charmy felt a little awkward because he agreed with him after what he did so instead he got back on topic.

"We'll talk more when you get home later, for now though you should get yourself ready." Shadow agreed.

"You wait downstairs and I'll drop you back at the Chaotix on the way if you like?" The hedgehog suggested.

"Awesome!" Charmy exclaimed with new found excitement before leaving Shadow's room and closing the door behind him. The hedgehog buried his face in his hands as he relived his mistake that tore him and Espio apart.

_**2 Weeks Earlier**_

Shadow walked back to his house as many thoughts ran through his head. Espio had an important mission and wouldn't be back until later that night; at least that was what he told him after their argument before storming out and slamming the door. What Espio didn't say was that Vector would be picking him up the next day which turned out to be a very important detail.

Shadow spent most of the night walking around not caring that he was slowly succumbing to the chill of the night. It wasn't until he was shivering uncontrollably that he decided he would head home. What would usually be just a simple walk home quickly turned into something else when a certain blue hedgehog ran into him and literally knocked him off his feet and into a puddle of ice.

"Whoa!" Sonic halted immediately and helped Shadow up off the ground. The one in black quickly snatched his hand away and tried his best to calm his shivering. "You alright there Shad?"

"I'm fine Faker I just want to go home." He said with a voice as cold as he was but Sonic wasn't fooled. To him, Shadow's ice exterior was just a façade to a warmer core.

"You're freezing Shadow! Let me help you home." Sonic suggested but of course Shadow was quick to decline.

"I am more than capable of getting home by myself." As he began to walk, his legs suddenly felt like jelly and before he knew it, he was on the ground again. Sonic was quick to react as he picked Shadow up in his arms and took him home. The shivering hedgehog couldn't help but snuggle into Sonic's fur at an attempt to warm up which unintentionally warmed Sonic more than himself. The blue blur was thankful when Shadow didn't notice the obvious blush that was on both his cheeks.

Once at Shadow's house, the one in blue took him straight to his room and wrapped him in his bed sheets hoping to warm him up. Shadow was too focused on stopping the shivering to notice the other hedgehog sat on his bed next to him drowning in his every motion. There was something about the one in black which Sonic couldn't get enough of. Unfortunately, Sonic couldn't appreciate this for long as Shadow regained his senses and was able to once again focus on the world around him.

"Hey." Sonic greeted in an unusually soft tone. Shadow raised a brow at this and was tempted to question but decided to let it go to avoid getting into some kind of conversation.

"Why are you here? More importantly, why are you in my room?" Shadow asked bluntly with more of a growl.

"Am I not allowed to see if you're alright?" Sonic complained and to Shadow's surprise he sounded insulted… but why?

"Hit a nerve did I?" Shadow grinned. Something about teasing the other male satisfied him for some unknown reason but it was these little victories that made some days more fun than others and allowed his ego to soar through the roof. It was like being reminded of some kind of excitement that had been lost through the years.

"Of course not." Sonic replied. The black mammal couldn't help but chuckle at Sonic's sudden defensive behaviour but it was the chuckle itself that actually caused the one in blue to give an unexpected smile towards the other. The blue mammal couldn't deny that he found Shadow fascinating, the only thing that was stopping him from jumping on him there and then was the fact that he knew he was with Espio. "So…" He began awkwardly. "How're you and Espio doing?" The question was purely out of curiosity. Shadow turned away and sighed which gave Sonic the idea that something was up.

"We had a fight earlier and not just some stupid fight about leaving the window open." He paused but Sonic didn't interrupt and allowed him to continue. "It was about our career choices and how dangerous our jobs can be. We're both sent on missions which we could easily never come back from and that really got to me today but when I brought it up to Espio he just started calling me 'possessive' and said I should have more faith in him… I never said I didn't!" The hedgehog was clearly getting wound up with each word he spoke.

"It's alright Shad. Arguments like this are normal especially since you guys have been almost inseparable for what, 10 years now? That's a long time." Shadow couldn't believe what Sonic had just said but he was right.

"10… 10 years? Has it really been that long?" Shadow asked. Sonic nodded in response. "I guess I've been so caught up in everything that I had forgotten how to live a life. It's not that I don't love him, of course I do it's just…" He growled trying to find the right words before continuing. "I kind of miss the freedom; the ability to do what I like and when I like. To not give a damn about the consequences and only explain myself when I feel it's necessary."

"So, you're saying that you feel tied down?" Sonic asked with a hint of nervousness. He knew Shadow was the sort of guy to tear you in half in a second if you hit the right nerve.

"Hmph kind of. I would just like to remember what it was like to do more than just get up, go to work, come home, have dinner and sleep." Even Shadow knew that it was odd for him to be saying stuff like this. The fight he had with Espio must have taken more of a toll on him than he thought and that wound him up, a lot. He sat up and slammed his fist down onto the bed in frustration. Shadow liked being in control of his emotions and he hated that it was Espio that had gotten under his skin and managed to make him feel terrible. As if by instinct, Sonic instantly put his arm around the hedgehog next to him as soon as he saw his outburst. An unexpected shiver went up Shadow's spine but this one was different, it wasn't cold and harsh like the ones before, this one was pleasant and almost teasing as if it wasn't enough.

Shadow slowly turned his head to see that Sonic was already staring at him with lazy eyes. A voice in his head was yelling at him to turn away but he simply didn't want to. His curiosity wouldn't let him. Both pairs of eyes stared into each other almost impatiently but what Shadow didn't know was that Sonic was fighting with every fibre of his being to stop himself from jumping on the other there and then. Without warning, Sonic began to move closer despite knowing that Shadow was taken; almost as if he wanted to test his luck.

"_Trying wouldn't hurt."_ Sonic thought. _"Besides he'd stop me… right?"_

_**Present Day**_

"Shadow! Hurry up would ya?!" A voice yelled from downstairs snapping Shadow from his daydream, something he was secretly thankful for. It took him a second to regain his grip on the real world but he was quick to reply so that Charmy wouldn't get suspicious of him.

"Alright alright I'm coming already!" He yelled back trying to mimic his usual impatient attitude. After about a minute or two, Shadow made his way downstairs and into the garage where his motorbike was. Charmy leapt on excitedly while Shadow was calmer since still being tired. The bike rumbled into life and before Charmy had time to react, they were speeding off across the city and back to the Chaotix.


	2. Broken

**Hello! It's me again! I know it's been like a week or so but the thing with college is if a holiday is coming up then the amount of coursework that is given to you goes through the roof. That is why I've been a bit delayed with the chapters, so if you were thinking that this was a one shot well...nope :) I would've said it was a one shot in the summary if it was.**

**Anyway, I won't go on and on so I'll just say that I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will see you again soon since I have only 2 days left before the holidays begin! Yay! :D**

**Arby xx**

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><p>He wouldn't admit it, but he was anxious. Every time he got anywhere near the Chaotix it felt as if he was getting closer and closer to a furnace. Charmy felt something similar. The last thing the teen wanted was to see Shadow and Espio fight yet he knew the chameleon had every right to go ballistic.<p>

As they pulled up on the curb outside, they both stared at the small house for different reasons. Shadow glanced back realising that neither of them had said a word in a while.

"You gonna go in or what?" He asked with a harsher voice than he intended. The bee shrugged it off however and climbed off the bike as he answered.

"I could ask you the same thing." He smirked. Shadow on the other hand wasn't too amused by his comment and gave him an irritated stare rather than a reply. "Yeah yeah I know. It would be your death sentence if you went in there." Charmy finished. Shadow nodded.

"No shit." Shadow replied flatly but Charmy could hear something else to his voice, almost a sadness that would be unnoticeable to anyone else.

"I won't rant about it again but this situation sucks ya know?" It was a failed attempt to cheer the hedgehog up but it was an attempt nonetheless.

"I couldn't agree more but there's nothing I can do. Be patient with him for now, he just needs time." Charmy didn't respond and Shadow was beginning to feel a little awkward. He scratched the back of his head and said a quick goodbye before heading off to G.U.N. The teen then folded his arms as he watched Shadow drive off out of sight. He let out a long sigh before finally going inside.

"Mornin' Charms." Vector greeted as the bee walked through the door. His body flopped down on the sofa and a muffled 'Hey' was what the crocodile received. Vector rolled his eyes and got up from his desk to walk over to him. "So, where have you been on this cold morning?" Charmy grunted at the croc's question. He always wanted to know where he was or what he was doing and it was now getting to the point where it was getting on his nerves.

"And that is your concern why?" The teen asked sarcastically. Charmy couldn't see the obvious irritated look on the crocodilian's face but he knew it was there and even grinned knowing how much he got under his scales.

"Don't be like that." Vector replied with an exhale. "Since Espio has barely been out of his room for the past 2 weeks, it's my responsibility that you don't go around causing trouble." He explained.

"_No changes there…"_ Charmy thought. After a few breaths to ease his slowly rising temper, Charmy got up from the couch and began to head upstairs.

"I'm gonna go check on him. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to convince him to go visit something called 'sunlight'". A grin appeared on his face as he spoke.

"Yeah we'll see about that and while you're at it, put your ego away." Vector commented.

"Coming from a guy who sits at his desk sorting bills 24/7 whilst drooling over a woman he can't have." If Charmy's ego wasn't showing before, it certainly was now and Vector's embarrassed blush was the proof.

"Uhhh…" As expected, the green reptile couldn't pull together a sentence.

"Don't start a fight you can't win Vector." Charmy finished with a victory smirk before heading towards Espio's bedroom door. He knocked on it gently to begin with but then stopped once an odd fragrance caught his attention. "Hey Vec, do you smell that?"

"Yeah, Espio has incense remember? He's been using them a lot recently. I'm kinda surprised you didn't notice it before." Vector told him.

"Well he never normally uses them at all, that's why." Vector simply shrugged and Charmy turned his attention back to Espio's room, this time going inside. He almost choked on the overpowering scent as he walked in but the sight of Espio playing with a lit stick definitely raised a brow. "Uh Espio?" The bee questioned but he got no response. It seemed as though the chameleon was in a trance whilst staring at the small flame in his hand. Charmy rolled his eyes and moved closer until he was stood next to the ninja lying on the bed. He licked two of his fingers and pinched the flame until it was extinguished. Espio blinked a few times before looking at him with an expression that had no emotion at all. He sighed heavily before finally speaking.

"What is it Charms?" A low and monotone voice asked him.

"Don't play dumb, you know why I'm here. In the past two weeks I think you've been out of your room once and that was to get a glass of water."

"That's because I tend to venture out when it's dark and there's no one around." Espio explained.

"Well I kinda figured that one out already but that's not the point." Charmy went on. "I'm basically saying that you need to get out, breath some fresh air and take your mind off of it. Lying in bed thinking about it day in day out is only making you feel worse."

"What if I run into him? Or he runs into me? I might do something stupid." Espio was clearly anxious almost as if he had a fear of going outdoors.

"He should be at work at this time but in case he isn't, go somewhere where you know he wouldn't go. Like that field you always used to take me to when I was little. Remember that?" The chameleon grinned a little as he remembered leading the bee to the field where he would meditate, especially during the summer months. Shame it wasn't summer now.

"I… guess I could go there."

"Great!" Charmy replied quickly.

"Just need my jacket." Espio told him.

"Downstairs by the door. Want me to go with ya?" Charmy asked still feeling slightly worried in case by some slim chance Espio ran into a certain hedgehog on the way there despite him saying that he would be at G.U.N.

"I'll feel better once I get there. No need to worry about me." The ninja reassured.

"That's all I have been doing for the past 2 weeks." The bee reminded him.

"Oh… I apologise."

"It'll be fine assuming you get better. Come on." Charmy gestured for Espio to follow. He let out another deep sigh before getting up and leaving his room.

"Espio buddy!" Vector cheered as he saw Espio exit his room. Charmy huffed at the sight of the crocodile's sudden happiness.

"_It's not that big of a deal."_ The bee thought. Espio gave a nod to Vector in response as they both came downstairs.

"I finally got him to go for a walk." Charmy told him.

"That's great. The fresh air should do you some good." Vector replied. Espio didn't say anything as he put on his dark purple jacket which left Vector and Charmy exchanging awkward glances behind him. Once he considered himself ready, he headed for the door.

"See ya later Es." Vector said whilst Charmy gave him a small nod as he left the Chaotix.

_Meanwhile…_

G.U. N. hadn't changed much whilst Shadow was absent. Everyone was still busy with paperwork or preparing for missions later that night. The hedgehog himself on the other hand had a mountain of paper on his desk that had been eagerly awaiting his return. Just the sight of it alone made him want to quit but instead he poured himself some coffee in the biggest mug he could find in the staff kitchen and returned to his office to get started.

Not even half an hour in and the darkened fur ball was already falling asleep in his chair. The adrenaline from Charmy's unexpected wake-up call had finally worn off and the hedgehog was ready to doze off right there… until a certain bat colleague of his came in to wake him up.

"Well, hey there handsome." She greeted with her voice being as seductive as ever.

"What do you want?" He grumbled as he sat himself up and took a big mouthful of coffee.

"I know you're not a morning person but there's no need to take it out on me." She teased as she sat on the edge of his desk in front of him.

"I'm not in the mood for your crap today." He growled at her.

"Now now, don't be like that. What's gotten you so down?" She asked but it was hard to tell if it was because she cared or because she was curious. Shadow didn't want to take the risk.

"None of your damn business." He stated plainly. Rouge rolled her eyes and decided it was best to not push him, at least not today.

"Alright you win today but don't think I won't be back. See ya hot stuff." She finished before slowly leaving the room and giving Shadow a wink as she closed the door behind her. Shadow grunted in annoyance and rubbed his head. Instead of getting angry, he focused on getting all his work done and dusted, only then could he return home and be alone with his thoughts.

_Back at Chaotix H.Q…_

Charmy was lying on the couch watching TV. He was more lost in his own daydreams than anything else so much that he didn't realise that Vector was talking to him. That is until the croc stood in front of the TV and snapped him out of it.

"Are you even listening to me?" Vector asked loudly to get his attention. The bee blinked and shook his head.

"What's up?" Vector exhaled at his response.

"You didn't hear a word I said did you?" Charmy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, he didn't realise he was so out of it.

"Uh no… sorry." He admitted.

"I was basically saying to hold back on Es a little. He's had a hard time." Vector told him.

"Yeah I know but sitting on your ass all day isn't gonna make things any better."

"It's not that easy Charms. Something that huge can really knock the will out of you to do anything." Vector argued.

"Oh come on, yeah Shadow is a complete idiot for doing what he did but Espio will get over it and everything will be fine." Vector's jaw dropped at what Charmy had just said.

"Are you serious?" The reptile asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah… why?" The teen questioned.

"Charmy… I don't think you fully understand what Espio's going through." Vector's voice had suddenly softened and a worried look was obvious on his face. The bee on the other hand simply looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Turn the TV off and sit on my desk, I'll help you understand." Vector said before going to sit at his desk. Charmy felt rather anxious at Vector's somewhat odd behaviour but his curiosity wouldn't allow him to say no. Perhaps he could learn something or perhaps Vector would go on and on until the bee was asleep enough to fall off of his desk. With some effort, he got up off the couch and sat on the desk with his legs crossed right in front of Vector. It reminded him of when he was little and how Vector used to tell him stories during thunderstorms.

"So… what are you gonna do?" Charmy asked after coming out of his thoughts.

"I'm going to try and help you understand the kind of pain Espio is going through and show you that it's not as easy as just 'getting over it'." The bee wanted to question but instead he just went along with it and nodded. "Ok then, close your eyes."

"What?" The teen replied, clearly confused.

"I know this sounds weird but it will all make sense in a few minutes ok?" Vector reassured. Charmy then did as he was told and waited for Vector to continue. "Good. Now imagine that you're dating someone and have been for a very long time. It's your choice as to who that would be, just remember that you love him or her very much and would do anything for him or her." Charmy opened one eye and spoke.

"Him or her?" He asked.

"Yeah, I don't know which way you swing yet and I don't think you do either." Vector rubbed the back of his neck but Charmy felt a little insulted for some strange reason.

"H-how do you know?!" The bee demanded.

"You've never been with anyone before." Vector reminded him.

"Oh yeah… hehe." Charmy went red with embarrassment and scratched the back of his helmet.

"Anyway, have you got someone in mind?" The croc asked. Charmy nodded as he closed his eyes once again. "Who is it?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you that." The teen chuckled.

"Alright alright… just imagine that you're on your way home from work. It's been a really tough day and you want nothing more than to be in the arms of the one who you're with ok?" Vector explained. Charmy didn't say anything and just nodded. "You walk in through the door and call his or her name but you get no response." The crocodile paused and looked at the bee for a few seconds. He could see clearly that the bee was cringing and even noticed his right eye twitching. Vector continued but was now a little worried as to how the teen would react. "You search downstairs and don't find him or her anywhere. You then go upstairs and the first room you walk into is your bedroom. You find your partner but he or she is not alone-"

"Stop! Stop stop stop stop stop…" The bee repeated rapidly. Vector stared at him in shock. Charmy's face was red, not with embarrassment… but with anger. His breathing was heavy and his body was ever so slightly trembling.

"Are you ok?" Vector asked.

"I'm just fine." He said somewhat quietly before getting off the desk and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." Charmy said bluntly. He was quick to leave and even slammed the door behind him. Vector was speechless at his actions and felt terrible for putting him through it.

"At least he gets it now." Vector reassured himself before finishing up the last of the day's paperwork.

_Meanwhile…_

It was useless. He had tried his best but the cold was simply too much for him even with his jacket. Espio had made it to his secret haven unnoticed but was unable to get into a state where he could meditate. It felt like hours had passed since he left this morning and he was now wandering around aimlessly with his numb hands in his pockets. The city streets were unusually quiet today, maybe because of the cold. It was odd how everything seemed duller during the winter months. The buildings, roads, sky and even other people all seemed grey. Suddenly, an icy gust of wind rushed past him nearly knocking him off of his feet. The chameleon's body shivered violently but was quick to calm.

"Oh sorry! I didn't see you uhhhhh…" A voice stuttered from behind the cold reptile. Espio turned to see none other than Sonic looking absolutely terrified.

"Is there a problem?" The ninja asked. It took Sonic a few seconds to recover.

"N-no! I just um… didn't expect to run into you… that's all." It was clear that he was nervous but Espio had no idea why. "So…" Sonic continued. "…How've you been?"

"Why do you care?" Espio asked. By now he was very suspicious of the blue hedgehog and was even contemplating questioning his behaviour directly.

"Well it's just…"

"Yes?" Espio interrupted. He was normally very patient but the cold and his depression had definitely shortened his fuse.

"I heard about what happened with Shadow and-"

"I'd rather not talk about it." He interrupted once more.

"_How does he know about that?"_ Espio thought. He turned around and walked a few steps when out of nowhere…

"You wanna get a coffee or something?" Sonic yelled unexpectedly. The chameleon turned back around slowly with one brow raised. The blue hedgehog scratched his quills and wanted to slap himself there and then.

"_Good job genius…"_ He thought sarcastically. The ninja knew this was a bad idea but it was better than returning home to do the same thing he had been doing for the past 2 weeks.

"Actually, a coffee sounds good." Espio replied. Sonic smiled, he knew the chameleon wouldn't usually accept an offer like that even if it was something so small which in turn made Sonic feel a little special behind the enormous wall of guilt that was ripping his stomach to pieces. "You're paying." Espio said as he approached Sonic and they both walked side by side to a nearby café. The hedgehog nodded. The silence between them was awkward but the blue mammal was quick to ask questions.

"You never properly answered me before. How have you been?" Sonic repeated his earlier question and this time Espio answered with a bit more detail.

"I'll be completely honest, I've been terrible. I haven't left my room in a couple of weeks. It's thanks to Charmy that I'm out of the house at all." Espio told him. Sonic scratched the back of his head.

"Oh…" He answered awkwardly. "Do you know who he… ya know… did 'it' with?" By now the hedgehog's face was a bright red which Espio simply assumed was embarrassment.

"No idea… and I don't want to know."

"Why not?" Sonic asked.

"I fear I may do something stupid, even dangerous to whoever it was and to Shadow. It's an odd feeling, I want to hurt him. I want to use my anger to show him what he has truly done to me yet I find myself lost, unsure of what to do with myself. He was such a big part of my life for so long… I don't think I could lay a finger on him no matter how much he deserved it." Espio's words definitely hit a nerve in Sonic and had nearly caused him to break down and confess everything, but he was scared… too damn scared.

"Uh Espio? Would it be alright if we did this some other time? I just remembered that I need to be somewhere." Sonic's voice was unstable as if he was about to burst into tears for reasons Espio couldn't figure out.

"Sure." He replied simply.

"Thanks, see ya." He said before fleeing down the road. The chameleon was left with his thoughts but he just couldn't figure out why the hedgehog was acting so weird around him.

"_Have I done something?"_ He began to think but then shook it off and decided to begin walking home before the darkness settled in.

Espio didn't realise how far he had walked. By now he was thinking less about Sonic and more about Shadow. He wondered if the black hedgehog was going through the same thing or if he simply didn't care.

"Bastard." He growled under his breath. He was so consumed by his own thoughts and anger that he did not notice the arctic air tearing through him. It was as if he'd forgotten he was a reptile and how vulnerable he truly was to the winter's wrath. His legs gave in and he fell to his knees. He gritted his teeth together but nothing he did could stop the shaking. Looking around, there was no one anymore and it was now that he realised he didn't know where he was at all. His breathing quickened as he fell to the ground and laid there helplessly. Staring at the colourless sky above him seemed to calm the shivering or his body was going numb. Tears finally escaped the chameleon; he didn't want to care anymore. He didn't want to love him. He wanted so much to hate his traitor just so he could feel something other than pain. "I want to forget… please allow me to forget!" He begged but nothing changed except for his vision which was quickly getting darker. In a matter of seconds, the chameleon was unconscious.


	3. Uncomfortable Encounters

**It's a chapter! Surprised? Yes I was able to get this done quicker simply because I have no coursework! Yay! I will get started on Chapter 4 now and we'll see how long it takes me. I think it's best to say that chapter uploads will be random. If I finish a chapter and spell check and what not then I will upload it straight away. Sometimes this will be in a day and sometimes a week.**

**Just wanted to clear that up since I'm not good at keeping a schedule :/**

**Would also like to thank mormar1 once again for being such a big supporter of the things I write. It is such a boost to hear your opinions and kind words and it always makes me want to write more! You are simply awesome! :)**

**Hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'll see you soon!**

**Arby xx**

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><p>The day seemed to get colder as the hours passed with the sun losing its strength behind the clouds. One insect however didn't care as he stared out over the open ocean. Oddly, a gentle but cold breeze had kept the grass from becoming muddy which allowed the bee to sit and ponder any thoughts that came to mind. He had one leg dangling over the sharp cliff edge where he was sat and had the other brought up to his chest to rest his arm. Chills would run through him constantly but he would force himself to shrug them off just so he didn't have to go home, at least not yet anyway. The last thing Charmy needed was to be smothered with questions about where he was and why he left so abruptly. A sigh would escape him each time his little 'experience' re-entered his head which he would quickly force himself to forget.<p>

"Charmy?" An unexpected feminine voice came from behind him. He had no idea anyone was there at all and spun around in surprise forgetting that he was sat on a cliff top. In only moments, he went from sitting peacefully to almost falling to what could have easily been his end were it not for the rabbit that had startled him to begin with. She leapt forward as if by instinct and grabbed his hand, allowing him to stay upright and use his wings to fly back up safely. Charmy was in a bit of shock at his near death experience but he quickly pulled himself together he realised who it was that saved his life.

"I owe you one." He said in between deep breaths.

"Are you alright?!" Cream panicked. "I-I didn't mean to startle you!"

"Hey take it easy." The bee reassured. "I'm fine all thanks to you so don't worry about it ok?" The rabbit took a few moments to study her best friend. She found it odd how someone who could've lost his life was so… distant for lack of a better word. Something was on his mind.

"You're not yourself." She stated boldly. Knowing him for so long, she could read him like a book or at least that was what she liked to think. This was different.

"You're right, I'm not." Charmy replied. "Can we walk and talk? I'm freezing up here." He let out a small chuckle and Cream did the same.

"Of course." She smiled warmly at him before they both made their way back into the city.

"…And that really got to me. I just had to get out of there even if it was for a little while." Charmy finished after explaining the situation that Vector had put him through. Cream thought her answer through thoroughly. She liked being the neutral side and being the one people could go to if they had problems.

"I can see his point. You're rushing Espio to be his normal self again when he simply isn't ready for it yet. On the other hand, you're right. Espio being cooped up indoors for weeks on end isn't good for him. You need to somehow find a middle ground. Help him move on gradually without putting too much pressure on him. As for Vector, you know he doesn't handle the more sensitive situations too well." Cream let out a light-hearted giggle to try and soften the bee up, a tactic which seemed to work as Charmy giggled in return.

"Yeah it would be like giving him an expensive painting and telling him not to sell it." They both laughed at the thought of the croc tearing through crowds of people just to have his hands full of cash. Whilst walking down the quiet city streets, an almost empty café caught Cream's attention.

"Hey, you want to grab a hot chocolate or something? It'll warm you up quicker." She suggested.

"Maybe some other time, I just feel like walking. Is that alright? I feel like if I stop then I'll start thinking again." A worried look was present on the bee's face as he spoke.

"It's not a problem Charmy. Try to relax, everything will be fine." Her warm smile returned which caused Charmy to smile back. They continued in silence for a good while but for both of them, it was oddly comfortable as if they both needed a break from talking. About half an hour later, the bee next to her suddenly stopped and she didn't notice until she was a few steps in front of him. When she did turn around, she was greeted with an extremely puzzled expression staring into the distance.

"What is it?" She asked calmly, not thinking too much of it.

"There's something over there. What is that?" Charmy questioned pointing to the object he had his eyes on.

"Oh yeah, it seems so out of place."

"Come on." Charmy said whilst signalling for Cream to follow. They both approached the object on the ground to see that it wasn't an object at all; it was a dark coloured chameleon.

"Oh my god!" Cream exclaimed in shock as Charmy ran over to the reptile and knelt down. His entire face went pale as soon as he realised that this wasn't just any chameleon.

"Es-Espio!" He panicked. Charmy held Espio close to him to try and stop the cold from doing any more damage. "Cream! Call an ambulance!" Cream was quick to get on the phone and soon enough, the paramedics were on their way.

"What is he doing out here?" She asked once she had put her phone back into her coat pocket.

"I have no idea! He has never once come into this part of the city. Why would he be here now? What happened?" The bee teen was rocking back and forth with the unconscious chameleon in his arms. Cream was quick to notice how intensely nervous he was and put her arms around him as a form of comfort.

"Thank you…" He whispered with his voice suddenly full of fear.

"It's ok." She whispered back. They both seemed to be in a trance until the sound of sirens caught their attention. Two paramedics came rushing out of the ambulance and began asking questions.

"How long has he been like this?" A large bear with dark brown fur began. Charmy could only shrug his shoulders as he couldn't pull together any words, in the end Cream spoke for him.

"We have no idea. We only found him like this not too long ago." The bear nodded and asked some other things which Cream also had to answer. Whilst doing so, the two paramedics, the other being a female yellow squirrel, had gotten Espio into the back of the ambulance and had him attached to different machines to monitor his condition. The two teens also climbed into the back and went to the hospital with them. "Maybe you should call Vector and let him know what's going on." The rabbit suggested.

"I'll call him when we get there." Charmy replied with his voice now sounding more depressed than anything else. Cream, not knowing what to do with herself now that they were both silent, rested her head on his shoulder hoping that would somehow give him a ray of hope. The bee didn't react however and they stayed like that until they reached the hospital.

_Meanwhile…_

The evening was leaving clues that the day was coming to an end. Shadow on the other hand hadn't noticed any of it since he was trying to nap on the black, leather couch in his living room. Every time he closed his eyes however, he could see himself back there in that dungeon filled with nightmares. He had been home for hours now since the G.U.N. Commander ordered that he take a leave of absence to sort out any problems at home.

"_Fat chance of that."_ He thought. At least his break would still be paid thanks to the Commander being in a good mood. A knock on the door forced him to give up his useless attempts as well as his patience running thin. He got up with a huff and opened the door to see the one face he really didn't want to see.

"Hey Shadow I-"

"Get lost hedgehog!" Shadow snapped at him before he could say another word but Sonic was quick to talk again.

"But I really need to talk to you!" The one in blue begged.

"Tough shit!" He yelled back at him angrily. "I don't want to hear anything that you've got to say!" Shadow was about to slam the door in his face when three words stopped any action he was planning.

"It's about Espio!" Sonic yelled back. The ultimate life form gave a glare that could freeze volcanoes before speaking in a calmer but still aggressive tone.

"Did anyone see you come here?"

"No." Sonic answered quickly.

"Get in here." Shadow demanded and Sonic obeyed without question. "What's this about Espio?" The black hedgehog clearly wanted to get straight to the point. He didn't want to be around Sonic any longer than he had to.

"I ran into him today." The blue blur looked at the floor and twiddled his thumbs, avoiding Shadow's furious expression at all costs.

"You… you what?!" He yelled once more. "What the hell did you do?!"

"I talked to him." Sonic admitted. His ears hung low and his voice was quiet while he was secretly hoping that Shadow wouldn't pull out a handgun and shoot him right there.

"What did you say to him!?" He replied with his anger showing no signs of letting up.

"Would you calm down?!" Sonic finally snapped after becoming too uncomfortable with the other's constant shouting.

"Why the fuck should I? You ran into Espio! You! The person I was dumb enough to sleep with ran into the guy I've spent the past ten years of my endless life with!"

"Shadow, he doesn't even know that!" The one in black looked confused for a split second before yelling again.

"Of course he does! He left me because of it remember?!"

"No! I mean he doesn't know it was me!" Finally, after a good few minutes of screaming the street down, there was quiet. They both stood speechless with Sonic looking helpless and Shadow looking both confused and angry.

"Are you serious?" Shadow asked with an unexpectedly calmer voice.

"Yes, I asked him myself and he said he had no idea." Sonic told him. The other male began to pace around the room, thinking of what else to say.

"What else did you ask him?"

"I asked how he was doing."

"And?" Shadow's face suddenly looked concerned. It was clear that he still cared even if he had gone back to not admitting anything.

"Well… he's been miserable Shadow… what were you expecting?" Sonic asked in return. Shadow looked devastated and slumped down on the couch, burying his face in his hands. "Um… are you ok?" Shadow quickly looked back at him with another glare but it soon faded and he looked helpless again.

"Espio shouldn't be going through this. He doesn't deserve any of this." Unable to settle, Shadow got back up and returned to pacing. Sonic just stood near the doorway awkwardly not knowing what else to say. As if hearing Sonic's thoughts of desperation for a distraction, Shadow's phone suddenly started going off and he answered immediately. The one in blue couldn't help but listen in to Shadow's side of the conversation. "Hello?... What's wrong?... Holy shit! I'm on my way!... What? Oh… No it's fine just keep me up to date on how he is alright?... Good boy, I'll see you soon… Bye."

"Should I ask?" Sonic spoke up nervously. It took Shadow a minute to realise that Sonic was still there.

"Espio's in hospital…" He said quietly.

"What?!" Sonic panicked.

"Charmy and Cream found him passed out in a part of the city where he doesn't normally go." Shadow sat back down on the couch and rubbed his head. "I'd go see him but Charmy warned me that Vector would be there… dammit…"

"I can only imagine what Vector thinks of you at this point." Sonic admitted trying to lighten the mood.

"Hmph he's hated me even before Espio and I became a thing." Shadow told him. The blue hedgehog looked surprised since he had no idea Vector had hated him for so long.

"Why?" He asked. Shadow shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe he's scared of me or something." An evil grin appeared at the thought of Vector cowering in a corner but he quickly went back to being serious. "I'm worried that his reasons for being in hospital were intentional." Shadow continued, getting back on topic.

"Suicide? But that's so…" Sonic drifted off trying to find the right words.

"Out of character for him I know." Shadow finished for him. "I need a favour from you." Sonic sunk back a little bit knowing it was going to be to do with Espio but the blue blur was in no position to argue. "I can't keep him safe myself for obvious reasons so I'm going to need you to do it for me." Sonic's eyes widened.

"Um what?" He said a bit too quickly.

"Keep an eye on him, be friends with him, I don't know. Just make sure he doesn't do anything else that could potentially end him." Shadow explained.

"Assuming I'm able to do that, what if he finds out it was me?" Sonic pointed out.

"Then you'll get what you deserve won't you?" Shadow's glare had returned as he said it while Sonic simply looked disappointed.

"Fine." Sonic replied giving up the argument but Shadow could sense that he wasn't happy about it.

"Look, you've already ruined my life I think the least you can do is stop him from ending his." Sonic was just leaving as Shadow said this but before he left entirely, he turned and said one more thing which really hit the black hedgehog in the gut.

"It wasn't just me Shadow." With that, he slammed the door behind him leaving the ultimate life form with that sentence echoing in his head.

"Fuck you…" He growled. Despite it being early in the evening, Shadow decided that had had enough of life for one day and his migraine was supporting this. After locking up, the hedgehog went upstairs and forced himself to sleep.

His eyes shot open, the sound of wheezing had startled him. He tried his best to get up and hide but it was useless, he was far too dazed to control his movements. Thankfully the creature which he already knew was a tortured version of himself, quickly lost interest and disappeared back into the darkness. Once he had gone, Shadow finally came to his senses and was able to get up and look around. Everything was the same from before, the phonograph in the corner with the table next to it holding the candle, the shackles on the wall to his right, the wooden frame and mattress which he was lying on and any other details he remembered.

"W-why am I back here?" He said quietly to himself. Shadow wondered if the events that played out last time would be the same this time or if this nightmare was deeper than he originally realised. With no hesitation, he rotated the handle of the phonograph which to no surprise played the same message as it did the first time. Once it was done, he got the lantern down from the rope and the door to his cell was unlocked allowing him to venture back into the corridors. He soon came across the first forked path, one leading ahead and the other going right just like before. He went right to begin with and got startled by the same gust of wind that had startled him the first time. He emitted a low growl to express his annoyance before heading back the way he came. As he moved ahead, the wheezing noises his broken counterpart was making quickly returned and Shadow was quick to back up and hide but as he peered round the corner to see if it was there, he soon noticed that it wasn't.

"_Where is it coming from then?!"_ He thought in a silent panic. The horrible noises were only there briefly and Shadow was able to continue until he reached the second forked path, this time one leading ahead and the other leading left. It was now that he remembered that the broken ladder was left and quickly went to pick it up before moving on.

A heavy door led to the large room where Shadow remembered meeting his demise the first time. Out of the six cells it was the one directly to his left where his 'other self' had caught him. To his right he remembered the bottle of Laudanum because it seemed so out of place to him. Just like before, he picked it up and looked around. The reflection from a padlock caught his attention and it suddenly dawned on the hedgehog that one of his dearest friends was still here.

"Whoever you are, if you could help me, I would be much obliged." The same innocent, feminine voice said through the bars. Oddly, she would say the same things she did before as if he had come across her the first time all over again. Shadow this time didn't say anything and tried looking for a way out that wasn't locked. One thing which he didn't notice before was a closed hatch in the ceiling at the far end of the room, the problem now was trying to reach it. Looking around once more, the only thing he could think of was using the various boxes scattered around the room and piling them on top of each other so that he could reach the hatch to see if it would open. The boxes were made of wood and therefore fairly light which enabled Shadow to pile them with no problems. He had piled three boxes which didn't give him enough height to reach the hatch unless he jumped. With no other objects he considered stable enough to hold his weight; he decided that he didn't have much of a choice. Shadow carefully climbed up until he was stood on the third box. He aimed himself and counted to three before jumping up and grabbing the handle. The hatch swung open but because it was opening downwards, the force of the swing caused Shadow to lose his grip and land on a metal door which had been knocked off its hinges underneath him. The mammal cried in pain as he landed on his left arm. His reflexes forced him to get back on his feet and see how bad it was. To his surprise there was no blood or bruising, it looked from the outside like his arm wasn't injured at all but the intense pain he was feeling told him otherwise. He breathed heavily through the pain and managed to look up to see what he had uncovered but all he could see was an opening that was pitch black. Shadow turned with worried eyes to Maria's cell. He couldn't open it before when he had both of his arms intact but he knew for certain there wasn't a chance even if he tried. His mind couldn't see any other option but to leave her here.

"_At least she would still be alive."_ He thought. Shadow turned his attention back to the ceiling and realised that without the hatch's handle, he couldn't reach the opening. The hedgehog then remembered the piece of broken ladder he had picked up earlier. Once he had managed to climb the boxes again, he hooked the ladder piece onto the edge of the opening and made sure that it wouldn't fall. It took a lot of effort to climb up since he had one arm as his only support but he was more than strong enough to pull himself into what looked to be a tunnel.

It was small, cramped and very dark. Shadow had to crouch down so that he wouldn't hit his head on the stone bricks above him. He was forced to feel his way around with his one good arm as he could only see a few feet in front of him. It wasn't just one simple tunnel like he had hoped; it was like a maze with lots of different turns and forked paths. Shadow moved ahead slowly trying to remember the way he came in case he got lost but being so focused had made him forget that he wasn't alone. Out of nowhere, another wheezing sound caused chills to run up his spine but the tunnel made it difficult to tell where it was. Every time it exhaled it sounded as if it was right next to his ear. Shadow was sent into a panic trying to find a way out of the tunnels, forcing himself to ignore the monster that was clearly following him from somewhere unknown. If felt as if he was doomed to die in these tunnels until he finally saw a light coming up from the end. He didn't even notice that the noises had stopped as his mind was consumed in panic. There was an opening in the floor but it was different from the one he had climbed through. After checking there was nothing around, he jumped down and made sure to land on his feet. Shadow looked around frantically and only began to breathe once he saw that he was in the clear. Behind him was another phonograph however this one didn't work which he was almost thankful for. With a rock slide blocking the way, his only other option was to go in the other direction.

The corridors were made of the same stone brick except these ones were lightened up by lit lanterns hung on the walls. He continued on with his good arm cradling the injured one until he noticed a disturbing blood trail leading to a wooden door. The hedgehog threw his fear aside and put on a courageous front as he approached the door defiantly. Before he entered, he put his ear against it to see if he could hear any movement. After hearing nothing for several minutes, he went inside.

His face seemed calm but on the inside Shadow felt very uncomfortable. A table was in the middle with restraints placed clearly to hold down the wrists and ankles. Various tools lay on a separate table to his left ranging from knives to pliers. Looking to his right he saw another phonograph and a note on the other side of the restraint table. With just a hint of hesitation, he turned the handle and allowed the phonograph to play.

"Still alive are we? Maybe fate has something in store for you or perhaps you simply got lucky. Either way your effort so far has not lifted the weight from your shoulders and it will take more than overcoming yourself to do so. Your choice now is to go on or stay here and rot but I assure you, the worst is yet to come." Shadow felt as if he was being teased or being the puppet in some sick game but as much as he wanted to punch a wall, he physically couldn't. The note on the other side of the room was the next item to catch his attention but upon further inspection it was just an old newspaper article with nothing of interest. Once quickly checking the room once more for anything useful, he left the room and was forced to head down some stone steps as a second door opposite was boarded up.

Noises from all around would normally unnerve the best of people but Shadow was determined to get some answers out of these nightmares. Down a second set of steps the hedgehog came to another heavy door but this one looked fancy with its polished red wood and metal decorations. He took one deep breath and with some effort, went through the door into the library.


	4. Long Lost Hope

**Hey guys and girls! Here's another chapter which took longer than I thought it would to write and then I looked at the word count and realised why. This chapter is a bit longer than usual but that's a good thing write?**

**Anyway I won't take up you're time and I'll let you get straight to the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Arby xx**

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><p>"It's going to be ok." Cream reassured. Charmy was clearly worried as he couldn't stop pacing back and forth around the waiting room.<p>

"I know he's strong and all but I've just never seen him like that before." He replied. "If you saw your mother in that state how would you react?" She honestly didn't want to think about it which made Cream understand his situation a little more, she was just thankful that Charmy didn't sit and make her imagine it like Vector had done to him. Speaking of the 'head honcho', Vector came charging in from seemingly nowhere and demanded the receptionist to tell him where Espio was. The female Labrador sat behind the desk simply glared at him before telling him to sit down. Cream looked away in embarrassment while Charmy glared at him for his behaviour. "Hey, drama queen! Over here." The bee called catching the attention of Vector. The rabbit sat behind him had to turn away so that the reptile wouldn't see her laughing at Charmy's unexpected comment.

"Who you calling 'drama queen'?" Vector demanded angrily as he stomped over and stood a small distance in front of the teen. "You're the one who practically ran away from me earlier without any explanation at all."

"Well excuse me if what you put me through was a little too much." Charmy argued.

"I was only trying to help you get a better grasp on the situation. Would you rather I hadn't?"

"No, I just wish you hadn't been so full-on with it." Cream was steadily getting more and more anxious by the second and was even bracing herself for one of them; Vector especially, to throw the first punch. Out of the Chaotix trio, Vector had the worst temper and had a habit of making small situations a lot bigger and harder to handle than they needed to be.

"It was the best way you were going to learn Charms! Chaos only knows where Espio could end up following your advice." A sudden, uncomfortable silence fell upon the three of them. Vector had definitely hit a nerve but Charmy was determined not to let the croc get to him.

"What are you saying?" The bee's voice had suddenly quietened down and he was glaring straight into Vector's eyes. What the taller reptile didn't see however was the tightened fist Charmy had hidden behind his back. "Are you saying he's in here because of me? That this is my fault?"

"Well think about it, he wouldn't have gone out at all if you hadn't said anything to him." Cream was certain that Vector didn't realise that he was digging his own grave and with every word he spoke, the angrier the bee became. "You've only made things worse." That was it. That was the trigger that Charmy needed to send him over the edge. In a flash, Charmy used his wings to charge forward and tackle the reptile to the ground with ease. He then put one hand around his snout so that he couldn't talk and punched him repeatedly with the other. Everyone else in the room fled the vicinity while the receptionist called for security.

"You bastard!" Charmy shouted at him in between punches but the bee had forgotten that Vector was a lot stronger than him. He brought one arm up and grabbed the back of the bee's jacket and threw him to the ground next to him. As the teen tried to get up, Vector placed a hand on his chest and slammed him back down, pinning him. The croc didn't notice the security guards running in and gave Charmy one swift punch to the face before a rock iguana and German shepherd grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away. Cream was the first to rush back in and she sat next to a very dazed Charmy.

"Are you ok?!" She panicked with tears running down her face.

"Y-yeah…" He stuttered. "I uh… what?" The confused teen couldn't pull together a sentence. Vector had punched him so hard that bruising was already beginning to appear. Suddenly, a doctor on her evening break offered to take a look at him. Several other nurses lifted him onto a stretcher and took him into a room with Cream following close behind.

_Meanwhile…_

Upon closing the door behind him, he was met with mixed feelings for the corridor in front of him. It was gloomy and had an atmosphere that even Shadow wasn't comfortable in. There were four doors, two on each side and an open doorway at the opposite end. What added to the uneasiness were the eight stone statues that were in the corners and by the doors. They were of handcuffed humans that were stood up with their heads looking to the floor. Apart from them, the only other object of interest in the corridor itself was the phonograph near the first door on his left. Just like before he walked up to it and turned the handle, allowing it to play whilst he checked his arm again.

"Remember when I said that you could've been lucky for making it this far? Well now is the time to test that luck, to see if you are really capable of making it out of here with your life and body intact. No Chaos Emeralds to help you here, whether you live or die is entirely on your shoulders." The injured hedgehog sighed loudly to himself knowing that whoever it was on these recordings obviously wanted him dead. He wasn't discouraged however, and after making sure his arm wasn't broken entirely, he opened the door to the room next to the phonograph.

It was very dark with only the light from the corridor allowing him to see. The room was small with the odd box on the floor and a few tattered books on the shelves. It was basically a storage room with only a couple of items that caught the mammal's attention. The first being two tinderboxes which were old-fashioned lighters used for lighting candles and lanterns but they could only be used once. The second item was labelled 'Slide 2'. Shadow had no clue what it could've been used for but he took it with him on the off chance that he found out. With that, he left the room and went into the door directly opposite.

The second room had a much warmer atmosphere. It was just as small but had several candles emitting a golden glow which matched nicely with the polished wooden walls. There were four bookshelves and a large desk in the middle which had another slide, this time labelled 'Slide 1' and a piece of paper with no writing on it. Instead it gradually became stained with blood which appeared out of nowhere. He dropped the note out of shock and watched as the blood simply vanished right before his eyes. Shadow could only feel confusion at what he had just seen but shook himself out of his sudden trance to search the room further. There was one more tinderbox in the second drawer down on the desk and another on the other side but that was it and Shadow went back into the corridor.

He walked calmly until two more doors were either side of him. Just like before, he went left to begin with.

The first thing Shadow noticed once he had closed the door was that there were bookshelves with many books upon them. This room was obviously the main library which gave Shadow an idea. His eyes skimmed over the various books to try and find information on where he was, what year it was and if this place was real. Thankfully the room was lit just like the previous one with various candles letting the walls glow. He picked up another tinderbox whilst looking around but found that they were written in an unknown language.

"Give me a break." He whispered feeling a little annoyed. The only other thing on the shelves was a third slide, this time with 'Slide 3' written on it. Shadow had to reach up to grab it and took it with him as he went into the fourth room.

There were firstly candles on the walls which lit the room to some extent but the centre was still rather dark. Odd paintings lined the walls, two of Maria, one of Professor Gerald Robotnik, his creator and a fourth of someone being restrained and tortured. Shadow squinted and looked away. He never minded punishment but torture was something he believed should only be a last resort. Maybe that was what was happening to him? Not physically but mentally. It definitely got the hedgehog thinking until he noticed two small tables on either side of the room. The one on the left had a fourth slide which was conveniently labelled 'Slide 4' and the table to the right had another piece of paper, he shook his head and grinned.

"_Not this time."_ He thought. The mammal then turned to the far end of the room. There was a grate in the wall with a lever and two slots underneath it. The slots were thin and the only thing he could think of that would go in them was the slides that he had found. The problem was that he had four slides and there were only two slots, which slide goes into which slot? Shadow approached the slots to investigate further when a voice from behind the wall spoke to him.

"W-who-who are you? Who's there?" It asked with a hint of nervousness. The hedgehog froze and tried to think who the voice belonged to. He knew he recognised it, he knew. Before he could ask, he spoke again. "You'll burn for this. You'll burn for this!" He growled through the grate.

"S-Sonic?" Shadow questioned.

"Sick, twisted hedgehog." He replied. He didn't want to admit it, but Sonic's words were hurting him. They brought back darker memories of what he used to be and how relentless he was. Yet Sonic was always so tolerant of him, even if he was being a complete jerk. Why was he so cold to him now? Sonic didn't say anything else to him and instead just came out with a strange, incoherent mumble every so often. Shadow stared at the four slides in his hand. With no clues as to what the correct combination was, his only choice now was to guess. He took out slides 1 and 2 and put them in the top and bottom slots respectively. Without any idea of what was going to happen, he pulled the lever down. Suddenly, screaming nearly deafened the hedgehog from the other side of the grate.

"ARRRGHH! THE TRUMPET… SHALL… SOUND! AHHHHHH!" Sonic cried in agony and his bones snapped from their sockets and his flesh ripped away from each limb. What Shadow was listening to was Sonic literally being pulled apart. A deathly silence followed shortly after and Shadow was literally too terrified to move. His heart was trying to escape his chest and his breathing was very shaky and uncontrollable. His lower jaw gaped at the murder he had just committed.

"Oh…oh my… g-g-god…" He stuttered horribly. Slowly, he began backing away to the door being certain that he was absolutely silent. He checked both sides of him before closing the door. The only area left to check was the open doorway which he assumed would be the way out or to somewhere else.

He walked in to see and odd wooden box on four legs in front of him, bookshelves and a boarded up door to his left and more bookshelves to his right. Upon inspection, Shadow found out that the box was hollow and had a candle in the middle of it. He pulled out a tinderbox and lit it. The light from the candle then shone through a square hole in the front of the box and projected onto the white wall in front of it. There was also a slot which was designed to hold something which would then also be projected. He put in the two remaining slides to see what they were, simply for curiosity's sake. Slide 3 was a person kneeling with their hands clutching their head and slide 4 was someone standing proud with their hands on their hips. He left the slide there and looked around the rest of the room. Glancing at the bookshelves wielded nothing new so he went to the boarded door to see if he could somehow get it to open. The hedgehog used his good arm to try and pull the wood off the wall until suddenly a loud bang came from the other side. Shadow fell backwards onto the floor and stared at the door wondering what had just happened. The door was still closed and the wood seemed untouched. His ears perked up when more of the horrid wheezing came from behind the door. Was it the same one? If so, how did it get here? Shadow was quick to get up and back away as it was clearly trying to break through and he didn't want to stick around to see if it would. He went back into the corridor with no leads to go on. Even after all of this he had still learned nothing new about his predicament. In the end, he went back into the library for another look but this time something was different. A bookshelf at the far end had moved to reveal a secret passage behind it. It was run down with cobwebs everywhere.

"_How long has this been here?"_ Shadow thought before going down more creaky, wooden steps only to find more steps to his right and a phonograph next to him. He was reluctant to play it but did so anyway on the off-chance of some valuable information.

"I wonder, is that hedgehog friend of yours still around? Perhaps not. After all you always hated him for what he did to you. You of course didn't do anything wrong did you? He was going to die anyway right? You simply helped him and you enjoyed helping him. You'd do it again if you could wouldn't you? Just so he can never do any wrong to you again."

"What the fuck?!" Shadow yelled. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it!" His breathing was suddenly deep and he looked around to see that he was talking to no one. A sigh escaped him and he shook his head. Glancing left, he noticed a door at the bottom of the second set of steps. Since he had no other way to go he assumed that it was the way out.

As soon as he opened the door, his face was lit with fear. It was a basement with only two lit torches on support beams struggling against the dark. It was cold and while nothing else was there, Shadow simply knew that something would happen. The door was left open in case he needed somewhere to run and the mammal, whilst trying everything he could to not let his fear get to him, stepped cautiously as if there were trip mines buried under the floor. As he approached the first support beam, an icy gust of wind sent violent chills through his entire body but worst of all; it blew out all of the torches. The hedgehog's eyes widened as he quickly scanned the room. Nothing was moving or out of place… for now. The anticipation was killing him, he knew something was there, it had to be. His gut instinct was screaming at him, telling him that something wasn't right. He moved further forward, this time aiming for the second support beam not too far in front. Everything was quiet until-

BANG!

Shadow turned instantly to see that the door that he had come in from had slammed shut. He then turned back around when the familiar sound of wheezing could be heard in front of him.

"Shit!" He whispered as he ran back to the door only find that it was locked. "Come on, come on!" He begged angrily but it wouldn't budge. With no time, Shadow quickly crouched next to the first support beam and looked around frantically. For a few seconds he couldn't see anything, he could only hear chains and strained breaths as it walked closer to him in the darkness. But soon enough, the creature appeared.

It was clearly different from the one Shadow had confronted at the start. This one was tall and bulkier with a long, thick tail. He couldn't see clearly who it was but his voice gave it away instantly.

"I will find you." He spoke confidently. His voice was loud and harsh, even irritating if it was heard too much but not today. Today, it was terrifying to him, as if the only guy who wanted revenge on him would actually have it right here in this room. It was the one guy who despised him more without any obvious reasons than anyone else. Vector. "I will kill you!" He growled. Just like the previous monster, Vector had a tight, metal right around his neck and chains on his wrists and ankles. Shadow without a doubt, was scared. He believed the words the tortured croc was saying and couldn't move for fear of making a noise. As he approached, Shadow found his spot getting tighter with little places to go. To his left was another bookshelf with a small gap behind it, just big enough for him to hide in until he could figure a way out. His movements were slow and controlled and he reached the bookshelf just fine, he now just needed to get behind it and that wasn't going to be easy with Vector getting closer as he scouted the room. One key detail the hedgehog had either forgotten about or was too distracted to notice was that his arm was still injured from his fall. As he leaned on it, he groaned at the pain that suddenly shot through him which in turn alerted the angry reptile to his presence. "Yes, keep making those sounds." He said in response as he started walking quicker in Shadow's direction.

"No no no no no no…" He repeated rapidly in panic as he tried desperately to hide.

"I have you now!" Vector growled loudly as he grabbed his leg. "You won't get away this time!"

"Let go of me!" Shadow yelled as he kicked Vector repeatedly in the chest but it was as if he was doing nothing to him. The reptile dragged him out and dug his hands so deep into his shoulders that Shadow thought he was going to crush them. He tried his best to get up but with only one arm, he couldn't move from Vector's grasp. Without warning, he was flipped onto his back and was soon staring at two empty eye sockets.

*bzzz bzzz*

Shadow jumped up out of his bed in a cold sweat and panting heavily. His eyes darted around the room to see that it was still dark apart from a very bright light catching his eye on his bedside table. His phone was going off and was vibrating against the surface of the wood which must have been what woke him up. After a few seconds of deep breathing, he answered.

"H-hello?" He tried to say as casual as possible.

"Hello Mr. Shadow, I'm sorry to wake you." A teen rabbit replied to him.

"Hello Cream and that's ok, I'm glad you did."

"Why's that?" Cream asked.

"It's not important. Is everything ok?" Shadow asked trying to avoid the subject of his nightmares until he had properly woken up.

"I'm outside the hospital. I think you need to get here umm… Charmy and Vector got in a fight and-"

"Wait what?" Shadow was suddenly awake and very alert. "What did that bastard do to my son?!" The hedgehog demanded.

"Uh well it'll be easier to explain when you get here." Cream told him. Shadow took a deep breath to calm himself; he knew he was scaring her. "Of course, I'll be there soon. Wait outside for me and we can talk understand?"

"I understand. Bye Mr. Shadow." She hung up and Shadow was quick to get ready. Instead of taking his bike, he thought he would simply Chaos Control to save time and to see Charmy quicker.

In an instant, the hedgehog appeared in front of the main entrance and next to Cream who was startled by his sudden appearance.

"Where is he?" Shadow asked calmly this time.

"I know where his room is. Follow me." She told him.

"What the hell happened?"

"Vector was overreacting to Espio's situation and suddenly turned on Charmy implying that it was his fault. Charmy tried to hold his temper but Vector wouldn't calm down and in the end Charmy went for him. But Vector was able to punch him before security took him away." Cream explained.

"He punched him?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"How hard?" He asked.

"You'll see for yourself." She said as she gestured to his room in front of them. Shadow entered first and his jaw dropped at the sight. Charmy's right eye was heavily bruised with swelling around it. His eye couldn't even open because it hurt so much.

"Hey dad." The bee groaned through the pain with a slight smile.

"Hey little guy." Shadow greeted as he sat in a chair next to his bed. "So Vector did this huh?" The bee nodded.

"Yeah, he probably would've done more if it wasn't for the guards."

"I'll kill him for this." Shadow growled.

"I just wish I knew how to defend myself against someone like him. It only took a few seconds before I was pinned like some tantrum-throwing kid." Charmy sighed. He felt humiliated at how he was so quickly put to shame in front of everyone. "Dad even showed me some of his ninja tricks but I couldn't pull them off. He makes them seem so easy yet here's me getting my ass kicked."

"Espio seems to forget that you aren't a chameleon and haven't been brutally trained from the day you were born." Shadow explained.

"What difference does that make?" Charmy asked.

"He's trying to make you a ninja just like he is but what he hasn't thought about is what you want." Shadow had a point. When Espio was 16 he was a fully trained ninja master and still is now. Charmy is now 16 and the greatest achievement he ever did was sneaking a jar of honey into his room without anyone noticing.

"I just want to be able to put Vector in his place. He's got his head so far up his own ass that daylight doesn't exist."

"I can help with that." Shadow perked up.

"How?" The bee questioned.

"I may not be a ninja master like Espio but that doesn't mean I don't have tricks of my own. You seem to forget who I work for. I'd have died on my first mission if I didn't know what I know and I'm more than willing to teach you some new things." Shadow had a smug grin as did Charmy. Cream was sat on another chair glancing between the two.

"So what are you going to do?" The rabbit asked, speaking for the first time since they came back in the room.

"I'm gonna have Shadow here teach me some things and then I'm going to teach Vector some things. Right?" Charmy turned to Shadow who nodded and chuckled.

"He isn't going to know what hit him." Shadow grinned more this time until a doctor entered the room.

"Good morning." She greeted as she entered. She was a grey cat with piercing green eyes. Her voice was smooth and reasonable and even reminded the three of Blaze. "How're you doing Charmy?"

"I'm ok, my eye hurts though." He told her.

"That's understandable. It's going to hurt until the bruising and swelling goes down which could take a few weeks. Remember to put ice on it. That will help. On top of that however, you have a minor concussion." She explained.

"Concussion?!" Shadow interrupted. "How hard did he punch you?!"

"I-I don't know! I just remember being really out of it after." Charmy told him.

"Just take it easy for a few days and it will pass on its own." She wrote a few things down on a clipboard and spoke again. "How's your vison?" Charmy tried to open his eye but he couldn't open it fully.

"A bit blurred."

"That's normal. Your eyesight will also clear up on its own. Are you experiencing any dizziness?" Charmy shook his head.

"I feel fine for now."

"Good. I think you're all clear here. You're free to go; I just need you to fill out some forms first."

"I got those." Shadow told her as Cream and Charmy left the room. The hedgehog joined them a few seconds later. "Is Espio still here?" Shadow asked.

"I'm not sure. We can have a look if you want?" Charmy suggested. Shadow nodded and the trio went to find the chameleon. They had to go up a few floors in an elevator and down some more corridors before reaching his room and sure enough, he was still there. Without another word, Shadow went in and sat on the chair next to his bed. Charmy and Cream thought it would be best to stay outside but the bee at least wanted to look through the window.

Espio was still unconscious so Shadow considered it to be safe for him to be there. Despite him not being awake, Shadow spoke to him anyway just in case he could hear him.

"Hey Es…" He started. For some reason Shadow found it hard to come up with the right words to say as if he didn't know him anymore. It was strange to see him in such a state and it genuinely got to him knowing that he was the reason that Espio was hurt. "I know I'm the last person you want to be near you but if you can hear me then just know that I'm sorry. Yeah that doesn't change anything I know but I deeply regret doing what I did. If you want to know, I am suffering for it. I have these recurring nightmares every night plus the extreme guilt which I deserve. You on the other hand don't deserve to be here all wired up in a hospital. You deserve to be happy, with or without me. Don't let me be the reason that your tormenting yourself, you did nothing wrong. Move on with your life and be the chameleon that I fell for all those years back." Shadow allowed some tears to slip thinking that it would show Espio that he truly felt terrible. "I'll be honest with you… I miss you. The house seemed so much more welcoming when you were there and now it just seems… empty. This may be the last time I get to see you without you throwing a kunai at me but I just want you to stay safe and if you ever need anything, just call me and I'll be there no matter what. That's a promise. Do with that what you will but I am there if you ever needed me again." His breathing was suddenly shaken as was his bottom jaw while he held tightly to Espio's hand. Charmy stood at the window nearly in tears himself. Cream was quick to notice and put her arms around him.

"It'll be ok Charmy." She tried to comfort.

"Will it? I want those two to just somehow put everything aside and get back together. I want us to be a family again. We all did so much better when we weren't trying to kill each other."

"I know, I know."

Shadow managed to compose himself after not talking for a few moments. "I should get going. Don't worry about Charmy; I'll take good care of him." Without looking around, Shadow knelt down and kissed Espio on the forehead. "No matter what, I'll always love you. Remember that." He took another few seconds to simply look at the chameleon before finally gathering the strength to leave. As soon as the door clicked closed, Espio opened his eyes and tears quickly ran down his cheeks.

"Shadow…"


	5. Crossing Borders

**Greetings again everyone!**

**I know there's been a few weeks between chapters and no it's not because of the 'holidays'. I personally don't celebrate them simply because I don't see the point. It was more because I get become down and distant at this time of year, every year without fail for many reasons both of which I do and don't know about. I hope you all had a better time than I did, which in all honesty isn't difficult to pull off.**

**I'll try and focus more on this story but with college throwing failed assignments at me like they're damn water balloons it gets really exhausting. Makes me question society and the whole point of it all.**

**As a result I know I've been slacking, I'll openly admit that. I re-read Chapter 5 and noticed how badly I had rushed it, so I rewrote it before putting it up on here. I hope you enjoy it despite my enormous drop in self-esteem. I'll try and liven things up next chapter but again with college, I can't promise anything. I miss the summer :(**

**See you in the next chapter whenever that will be but I assure you there will be one. I'm far too stubborn to give up ;)**

**Arby xx**

* * *

><p>The sky was its usual cloudy grey this morning and the air was cold enough that breath could be seen. Shadow, Charmy and Cream were stood outside of the hospital discussing what to do next.<p>

"I should be heading home I guess." Charmy began. "Not that I really want to." He admitted.

"You think I'm just going to let you go back there?" Shadow argued.

"Where else can I go?" Shadow gave the bee an odd look.

"Is that a serious question?" Shadow asked.

"I think your I.Q. has gone down a little bit." Cream joked.

"Thanks… thanks." Charmy replied sarcastically before turning back to Shadow. "I can't stay with you. You've got such a busy life and-"

"Hey." Shadow interrupted. "You come first kid. I'd rather have you safe and sound more than anything else not to mention that I temporarily don't have a job." The hedgehog turned somehow hoping that Charmy didn't hear that little detail.

"What?! So you didn't go to G.U.N. after all?"

"Of course I did. I just had a slight episode so I was told by the Commander to not come in until whatever issues I have are sorted. I still get paid though."

"Slight episode?" Charmy asked with a look of suspicion.

"I'm not going into it. Anyway, you're staying with me from now on, no arguments." Shadow ordered.

"I don't have a problem with that but Espio might." Charmy reminded him.

"I'll deal with him if necessary but as soon as he finds out what Vector did to you then he should at least understand why." The other two nodded in agreement.

"So what are you gonna do?" Charmy asked, turning to Cream.

"I really need to get home. I've been out all night and I haven't slept." She told them.

"I bet your mother is worried about you." Charmy replied.

"Yeah, that to." She said scratching the back of her head.

"No problem, Shadow can teleport you there." Shadow gave him another odd look.

"I'm not your chauffeur Charmy." Shadow seemed irritated at how the bee just put him up for the job.

"Oh come on, it's not like I ask you every 3 hours to take me to the mall. Cream needs to get home and so do we." Shadow sighed but eventually agreed and took Cream home before coming back and taking Charmy with him to his place. "Why's it so dark in here?" Charmy asked as he walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch.

"It was pretty early when Cream called me so I didn't have time to lay the red carpet your majesty." Shadow's sarcasm earned a chuckle out of the younger bee.

"While you're at it, rub my feet and make me some tea." He teased. Instead of a foot massage, Shadow tossed an ice pack on his stomach.

"Have that instead." The hedgehog smirked.

"Ah crap that's cold!" The insect exclaimed and he jumped off the couch in shock. Shadow chuckled to himself as he made them both a cup of tea.

"Watch your language." Shadow reminded him.

"You're worse than I am." Charmy pointed out. The hedgehog thought about it for a second only to find that the bee was right.

"Ok you got me there." Shadow admitted. He then put the tea onto the large, glass table between the couch and the giant, wall-mounted TV and sat down after gesturing for Charmy to move up. He handed the remote to Charmy as he put his feet up on the table and the bee flicked through the channels.

"Why is there never anything on at 10 in the morning?" Charmy complained.

"Because any normal person wouldn't be watching TV at this time. You would still be asleep and I would normally be at work." They both stayed silent after that and decided to watch the news as it was the only thing that vaguely intrigued the both of them. The main headlines were usually a robbery or a murder and if it was neither, then it would be of some moustached idiot trying to take over the world… again. Shadow was steadily dozing off on the couch since being woken up so early but he tried his best to not let his eyes close. Instead he looked over to Charmy who had already fallen asleep next to him. A small grin appeared on his face as he got up and went to get a blanket from his room. The hedgehog came back down and placed it over the sleeping teen being careful not to wake him. He then took the remote from the bee and switched the TV off before heading upstairs to his room. The mammal laid on his bed for a little while staring at the ceiling. His nightmares were all he could think about. What was causing them? His guilt and shame? Maybe it was a coincidence but Shadow couldn't be sure. He wondered if there was a way out, if there was a way to get past all the monsters without getting caught however, he had no idea how many there were and if it was even possible. Maybe he needed everyone to live… or die? Another headache distracted him from his thoughts and the anxiety from trying not to sleep was only making him feel worse.

"Fuck it." He growled to himself as anger fuelled another wave of determination and he quickly fell asleep.

_Meanwhile…_

Endless thoughts of the black hedgehog ran through his head. He simply couldn't understand how the hedgehog could be so sorry when his actions were intentional. The sound of his door creaking caught his attention and to his surprise, saw Sonic entering his room.

"Uh can I come in?" He asked nervously. The chameleon didn't question it and nodded. Sonic closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair next to him. "I bet you're wondering why I'm here."

"You read my mind hedgehog." Espio replied with his voice being as calm as ever.

"I honestly felt guilty for running off the way I did and then finding out you were here not so long afterwards, I couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible." He explained.

"How did you know I was here?" Espio asked unexpectedly. Sonic silently panicked. He couldn't simply say that Shadow had told him because then he would want to know how Shadow knew about it.

"News spreads about this sort of stuff, you know?" It was a vague answer and Espio knew it. He didn't reply and let the hedgehog continue. "So, how're you doing?"

"I've had better days. I can't believe I was so careless." This caught the hedgehog's curiosity.

"Huh? You mean being out in the cold?" Sonic questioned. The chameleon knew it was a lot deeper than that. For him, it was more about weakness and allowing himself to fall further into this downward spiral that Shadow had put him in.

"Yes." He lied.

"It'll be alright." Sonic tried to comfort him but Espio was more cautious than to just believe him there and then. "This happens to the best of us. We can act all high and mighty but when it gets down to it, none of us are invincible."

"Perhaps." Espio replied not knowing what else to say. Sonic could tell he was down even if the ninja tried to hide it.

"I'm sure you'll feel better once you're out of here." He gave a grin and a thumbs up while Espio nodded in agreement. Before the silence became too awkward, a doctor came in and checked on the chameleon to see if he was well enough to leave. Espio didn't like being questioned and answered each one as bluntly as possible while Sonic stayed in his chair trying not to laugh.

Later that day, the duo were walking back to the Chaotix after Sonic insisted that he would walk him home. Espio said that he would be fine on his own but the blue hedgehog wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I can take care of myself you know." Espio reminded him as they walked casually through the streets.

"I don't doubt that for a second. I'm just making sure that you make it back without getting too cold." Sonic told the reptile next to him. Their walk didn't seem to take long at all as they talked the whole way back. It was only chat about the weather and how Eggman hadn't attacked in a while but they both enjoyed it nonetheless. Before they knew it, they were outside the Chaotix HQ and in a flash they said their goodbyes with Sonic promising him that he would take him for a cup of coffee at some point. Espio on the other hand didn't think he meant it and went inside to see Vector sat at his desk as per usual.

"Espio!" He exclaimed upon seeing the chameleon walk through the door. The crocodile, much to Espio's surprise, vaulted over his desk and ran to give him a huge hug. "Good to see ya pal!" He yelled in his ear as he picked him up off of his feet and unintentionally tried to kill him.

"Vec… tor…" The smaller reptile struggled which instantly caused Vector to drop him.

"Sorry bud, are you ok?" After a few deep breaths, Espio managed to pull together a response.

"Yes… I'm fine." The croc was quick to help him to his feet but just as he was about to speak, Espio interrupted. "Where's Charmy?"

"He went out." Vector said quickly which caused Espio to become ever so slightly suspicious of him.

"Where?" Espio continued.

"Uh he didn't say." The green one replied. The chameleon nodded and began to secretly observe him for any signs that he was lying. With the sky being so cloudy it meant that the room was rather dark and made it difficult to tell… but not impossible. Espio narrowed his eyes just to be sure but he thought he could see several bruises on Vector's face.

"Where did you get those?" The ninja asked. The crocodile on the other hand had no idea what he was talking about.

"Get what?"

"Those bruises." Espio replied. Vector's eyes widened at first, he didn't realise Charmy had punched him so hard.

"I uh… walked into a door." He then looked away knowing that was a pathetic excuse even if it was a complete lie.

"Multiple times?" Espio pointed out.

"_Crap…"_ Vector thought as he realised that Espio could see right through him. The chameleon approached him until their faces were mere inches apart. A burning glare was present which terrified the croc more than he would ever admit, but despite his sudden fear of the smaller reptile… he became distracted. Before the ninja spoke, Vector found his eyes locked onto the golden ones staring at him. Even if he wanted to look away, he simply couldn't and that scared Vector far more than whatever fate was about to befall him next.

"Do not ever lie to me Vector." Espio growled in a low tone. "What happened while I was gone?" The larger reptile was too scared to breathe never mind speak. It wasn't until Espio grabbed his chain and pulled him closer that he forced words out of his mouth.

"Charms and I g-got into a bit of an argument, that's all." He stuttered but this seemed to only anger him more.

"There is no such thing as an argument with you. I know you far better than that, you don't 'argue', you fight." With no warning, the chameleon pushed him back down into his chair. Vector was shocked if anything at the chameleon's actions. He was never normally this aggressive about anything but then again, Vector didn't truly understand the bond Charmy and Espio shared since never having a family himself. The croc couldn't help but feel a little left out and it felt like Espio was pushing him further away. "Where did he go?"

"I have no idea!" Vector said honestly. Espio shook his head and headed for the door.

"I'll deal with you later." The ninja finished as he slammed the door behind him.

_Meanwhile…_

Despite hearing it twice now, Shadow still felt the monster's fight for breath chill him to his core. No matter what he did, he simply couldn't move after he had woken up but it didn't take long for him to regain control of himself. This time though, there were two things different. The first being that the candle that was usually lit, for some reason wasn't and the second being that he could still hear his broken counterpart on the other side of the door but because of the dark, he couldn't see him.

"_Shouldn't he have gone by now?"_ Shadow thought as he slowly stood up, being careful not to make any noise. All of a sudden, the creature began smashing against the door in an attempt to knock it down. His actions nearly jumped the mammal out of his fur but his instincts were screaming at him to shut up and hide. The only place he could think of was under his wooden frame of a bed. Shadow didn't feel safe at all especially once he heard the screeching of metal against stone. He was in there with him. The hedgehog didn't move and he only breathed when he felt it was necessary. His eyes darted around frantically but the blackness wouldn't allow him to see anything at all. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab hold of his arm and start dragging him out from where he was hiding. Shadow tried struggling against it but his other self was a lot stronger than he ever imagined. The grip on his arm only tightened, so much that his nails started tearing through his skin. Shadow cried out in pain as blood trickled through his fur.

"Uncle Shadow! Wake up dammit!" A teen bee panicked as he tried to wake the hedgehog. It took several minutes for him to come round. His body was shaking noticeably and his breathing was deep and inconsistent. "Are you alright?!" Charmy asked also in a panic. "You were screaming in your sleep so I ran upstairs to wake you but you wouldn't and I got really scared." He explained unnaturally quickly.

"It's alright Charms. I'm ok." Shadow finally spoke. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"What the hell was that?"

"Just a nightmare." The hedgehog tried to pass it off as nothing serious in order to keep Charmy from worrying but as he moved to get up, a sharp pain in his arm caught his attention. The bee grew even more anxious when he watched the hedgehog's face go a sudden pale colour.

"What is it?" He asked. Shadow didn't answer and instead slowly lifted the bed sheet to reveal his arm with five long cuts running down it, each of them were bleeding.

"Shit…" Shadow whispered.

"Holy crap! Did a bear attack you or something?!"

"Would you calm down?!" Shadow demanded. "I'll explain everything but for now I need you to get the first aid kit in the kitchen." Charmy nodded and ran back downstairs. The hedgehog stared at his arm in disbelief. How could a nightmare hurt him in reality? His head just couldn't get around it. His thoughts were interrupted when Charmy rushed back in with the first aid kit. He almost threw it at him and then sat on the end of his bed and watched intently as Shadow patched himself up as best he could.

"Aren't you gonna need stitches for something like that?" Charmy asked to break up the silence.

"It'll be just fine." Shadow told him. He put some antiseptic spray on it so it wouldn't get infected which in truth, hurt more than Charmy's tail ever could. He then tightly bandaged it up and began to explain the strange nightmares he had been having.

Charmy was oddly quiet once Shadow had finished but there was still one question which was burning the hedgehog inside. "Do you believe me?" The teen looked dumbstruck at the question.

"Of course I do! I've got solid proof right in front of me." He said pointing to his injured arm. "Even if I didn't I'd believe ya anyway because I know you'd never lie to me."

"Thanks little guy." They both gave each other a small smile until Shadow went back to his serious self. "You cannot tell anyone about this. Not Cream, not Espio, nobody. Got it?"

"But-but why?" Charmy questioned.

"Because no one would believe me. They'd just think I'd gone crazy and I do not need that kind of attention on my back ok?" Charmy nodded.

"No problem Shadow."

"Good boy." Shadow, whilst being careful of his arm, got out of bed and headed downstairs with Charmy following behind him. It was late afternoon, about 3:30pm when a knock at the door caught the attention of both of them. Charmy answered and was surprised to see Sonic stood in front of him.

"Oh hey Charmy, I didn't expect you to be here." Sonic began.

"Likewise to you." The bee replied.

"Is Shadow here?" Charmy nodded and called for the hedgehog.

"Sonic?" Shadow asked, seemingly just as confused as Charmy. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you… alone." Shadow looked at Charmy who then sighed in annoyance.

"Alright I get it. Call me when you're done." He huffed and went back upstairs.

"What happened to your arm?" Sonic asked with concern clear in his voice.

"Not important." He replied quickly. "What's going on?"

"I went to see Espio in the hospital." He told the other hedgehog.

"How is he?"

"Fine, he left and I walked him back to the Chaotix just to be sure. Then I came straight here." Shadow was at a loss for words. He was relieved that Espio was ok but it quickly dawned on him that he was there with Vector and had no idea where Charmy was. He pushed his thoughts aside and focused on the situation at hand.

"Thanks Sonic, you'll keep an eye on him though right?" The black mammal asked.

"Still? But he's ok now." Sonic complained.

"I'm aware of that. It's Vector that bothers me, I don't trust him."

"Well, I know that but why?"

"You saw that black eye Charmy has?" Sonic nodded. "Vector did that."

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock. "Why?!"

"Because he's a violent son of a bitch!" Shadow growled loudly.

"Alright fine I'll babysit the chameleon a little longer." Sonic replied sarcastically.

"Good. You'd better go before Charmy gets suspicious." Sonic nodded once more before running off. Shadow shut the door and called Charmy back downstairs.

"Do I even need to ask what that was about?" Charmy began.

"It's not important Charms." Shadow replied.

"Uhuh, as usual." He said with a chuckle before sitting on the sofa and putting the TV back on. He was going to flick through the channels again until the news caught his attention. "Whoa awesome!" Shadow rolled his eyes but decided to take the bait.

"What is it?"

"There are these objects in our orbit that no one can tell what they are. I betcha it's aliens!"

"Charmy, aliens don't exist." Shadow told him. "It's probably some old satellite or something." He concluded.

"But there's more than one." Charmy pointed out.

"Then it's multiple satellites." Shadow answered with a smug grin while Charmy agreed to disagree.

"Alright uncle Shadow, believe what you want but when we're invaded then you'll be sorry."

"Whatever kid." Shadow finished as he sat next to him and stole the remote.


End file.
